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I started to learn baking chiffon cakes two years back from one of my coworkers when she was learning from her roommate. I always love chiffon cake because it is light, fluffy and soft with enough moisture and not greasy at all.  I love all kind of desserts but Eric doesn’t. However chiffon cake is officially one of those cakes that he can gobble up a couple pieces with no problem and be gone the other day. That is one of the reasons I first learned the recipe so that we can enjoy it together.

I’ve tried a couple of chiffon cake recipes such as coffee, green tea and black tea versions. I would like to share the all- time favorite Pandan Chiffon Cake recipe. Pandan leaves also known as screwpine leaves. It has a sweet taste and nice aroma, it is used widely in cooking and baking in Malaysian cuisine with complement of a bright shade of green. In my previous posts, you can find a couple of dishes prepared with pandan leaves such as Pandan Shrimps, Black Glutinous Rice Dessert and Yam Dessert.

One important thing in learning to bake chiffon cake is the process of whisking the egg whites to stiff peak form. The egg white has to stand without dripping or drooling. Whisk the egg white in one direction slowly in increasing speed but turning to low at final stage, whisk until it reaches stiff peak, the egg white mixture should now be so smooth, silky and velvety like ribbon.

The original recipe is referred to www.kuali.com (a famous Malaysian cooking website) but I have made some modifications based on tryouts. The original recipe is too sweet and not enough coconut flavor. For the Pandan leaves you can find at your local Asian food store more likely in frozen section. Also you can get the Pandan essence in some of the Asian supermarkets. Now enjoy your tea time!

Ingredients:

For the Pandan cake batter:
175g self-raising flour
1/2 tsp salt
80g  sugar
50g vegetable oil (warm 20 seconds in microwave)
50g thick coconut cream (warm 30 seconds in microwave)
4 egg yolks
1/8 green pandan coloring (optional)
1 tsp pandan essence (if fresh pandan is not available or add 1/4 tsp to fresh pandan juice for more flavoring)
1/2 tsp vanilla essence

For the Egg White batter:
5 egg whites
60g castor sugar
1/2 tsp cream of tartar

For the Pandan juice (blend in food processor):
8 Pandan leaves, cut into 3–4cm pieces
100 ml water

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 375°F.
2. Blend the Pandan leaves with water in a food processor or blender. Strain to obtain the Pandan juice.
3. In a mixing bowl, add egg yolks and sugar, whisk with mixer until pale light yellow. Add warmed vegetable oil and coconut cream, mix to combine.
4. Add in the pandan juice, pandan essence, green coloring, vanilla essence and mix until well combined.
5. In another clean mixing bowl (preferably stainless steel bowl, make sure no water, completely dry), with mixer at low whisk egg whites until just foamy, add cream of tartar and 1/3 sugar. Increasing speed gradually and continue to whisk. Add in 1/3 sugar, increase mixer speed and beat till soft peak. Pour remaining sugar, increase to high speed, whisk till egg white slowly turn stiff peak. Then reduce speed to low and whisk until egg white at stiff peak becoming smooth and silky. Do not overbeat. Check the tip of your whisk the egg white shouldn’t drip, or turn the whole bowl upside down the egg white shouldn’t drool. Total process takes about 5 minutes.
6. Using a spatula gently fold the egg white mixture in three batches into the egg yolk mixture. Fold and blend lightly until the cake batter is well combined.
7. Pour the batter into the chiffon tube pan (ungreased). Pat the tube  a couple times on the table to release excess air.  Bake in the oven for about 40-45 minutes, until the top becomes golden brown.
8. Remove from oven, place it upside down to cool for 30 minutes.
9. When cooled, release cake from mold.

Cut into pieces and serve.